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Muskingum College
Annual
Fall Research
& Internship
Forum
October 3, 2007
BIOCHEMICAL EVIDENCE OF THE DYSTROGLYCAN
COMPLEX IN EPIDERMIS
Becky Schroeder and Dr. Amy Santas
Department of Biology
A patient friendly treatment for cancer has eluded us for decades.
Studying wound healing in epidermis can provide insights on the
processes that are uncontrolled in cancer. The dystroglycan
complex appears to be down-regulated in wound healing and in
some cancers (Jing, J. et al., 2004). Using murine skeletal muscle as
a positive control, proteins of the dystroglycan complex are able to
be identified in murine epidermis through western blot analysis.
Alpha-dystrobrevin has been identified in murine epidermis and is
likely associated with the dystroglycans. Future experiments will
examine the presence of alpha-sarcoglycan in murine epidermis.
Our long term goal will be to identify novel members of the
epidermal dystroglycan complex.
BIOCHEMICAL EVIDENCE OF THE DYSTROGLICAN
COMPLEX IN EPIDERMIS
Anya V. Belyaevskaya and Dr. Amy J. Santas
Molecular Biology Program
Skin can serve as an excellent foundation for studying general
processes that occur in other organs due to easy accessibility. The
long term goal of our research is to use wound healing in the skin to
better understand aberrations that occur in cancer. However, before
these processes can be studied, proteins that make up different
complexes in the skin need to be better defined. This study uses
affinity chromatography and western blot analysis to characterize
the Epidermal Dystroglycan Complex. Biochemical evidence was
obtained that Utrophin is one of the proteins that make up this
complex due to its indirect binding of N-acetylglucosamine
oligosaccharide containing proteins like alpha-Dystroglycan or betaDystroglycan. An antibody against Delta-Sarcoglycan was also
optimized in western blotting of murine skeletalmuscle for further
study of its presence in epidermis. Future work will be focused on
identifying novel proteins of the Epidermal Dystroglycan Complex
using nonbiased experimentation.
FLOW CYTOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF RATIONALLY
DESIGNED ANTI-BCRP HAMMERHEAD RIBOZYME
ACTIVITIES IN VIVO
Craig Miller
Molecular Biology Program
Breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP) is an ABC transporter that
when overexpressed has been shown to present multidrug resistance
in cancer cells. This has fueled interest in its elimination or downregulation in order to increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy
treatments. One such approach that has been studied is the use of
ribozymes. Because many sites on the same mRNA can be cleaved
by a ribozyme, there are options of choosing between different
ribozymes for knock-down studies. Also, ribozymes targeting the
same mRNA at different sites can have various activities. Thus,
being able to choose the most active ribozyme to down-regulate a
protein would be of great importance. Previous work in the
laboratory has already measured many rationally-designed antiBCRP hammerhead ribozyme activities in vitro and in vivo using
RT-PCR analysis of mRNA levels. These were done to compare in
vitro and in vivo activities to computer models of activities to help
improve the computer algorithms. In the present study, 10 of the
ribozymes used previously in the laboratory were analyzed at the
protein level using flow cytometry to determine activities in order to
compare with mRNA cleavage activities and further enhance
computer models. While no correlation was observed between
activities and the probability of single-strandedness of mRNA target
site, weak correlations were detected between ribozyme activity and
mRNA disruption energy and between in vivo ribozyme activities
measured at protein and mRNA levels.
KINETIC STUDY OF THE PRODUCTION OF ZIRCONIUM
TUNGSTATE HYDROXIDE HYDRATE
Karen Witker and Dr. Cora Lind, Advisor; University of Toledo
Department of Chemistry
Thermal Expansion is a property unique to all materials and
is measured by the thermal coefficient, alpha. Zirconium
tungstate is a material that shrinks when heated, therefore
it is a negative thermal expansion (NTE) material.
Zirconium tungstate can be formed from a precursor,
zirconium tungstate hydroxide hydrate, which was the focus
of this study. The goal of this project was to optimize the
formation of the precursor, zirconium tungstate hydroxide
hydrate. Several different concentrations were
investigated, and phase characterization was carried out
using powder X-ray diffraction (XRD).
GRASSLAND BIRD NEST SITE FIDELITY AND
ADDITIONAL RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES AT
THE WILDS
Katlin Oress
Environmental Science Program
From early May through early July I assisted in with two major
research projects at the Wilds: grassland bird site fidelity and giraffe
foraging behavior. I assisted in capturing and color-banding over 80
grassland birds (grasshopper, savannah, and Henslow's sparrows and
bobolinks) on mowed and unmowed plots. I also helped located
returning birds banded during previous years (18 individuals).
Finally, I assisted two senior conservation science students with
their giraffe foraging project. I spent over 20 hours observing
giraffes and collecting foraging data.
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION INTERNSHIP AT THE
DAWES ARBORETUM
Julie Travaglini
Department of Biology
“In the end we will conserve only what we love. We will love only
what we understand. We will understand only what we are taught.”
This quote by Baba Dioum illustrates the importance of
conservation and environmental education to the future. During this
internship, children were provided with the tools and knowledge to
being appreciating and conserving the natural world. Educational
programs that included topics such as: birds, mammals, reptiles,
swamps, plants, bugs, pond studies, bugs and recycling, were
provided. A Discovery Center was updated with games, crafts, live
animals and educational worksheets for children. Informational
exhibits and kiosks for adults were also designed. Off site
educational programs for adults were also provided.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF SERVER
SOFTWARE TRACING &
TESTING COLOR IMAGE COMPRESSION
Holly Soper
Department of Mathematics and Computer Science
InfoPrint Solutions Company, a joint venture between Ricoh and IBM,
wished to improve the server software tracing capabilities of their webbased application product known as InfoPrint ProcessDirector (IPPD),
in response to customer and developer demands. A software package
was developed that offered users the ability to trace or log particular
events during IPPD's execution. Software performance was improved
with respect to runtime, software organization, and user interface using
Java development tools.
A second project was undertaken, again with InfoPrint Solutions
Company, to ensure the image transformation quality from software to
hardware and vice versa. Color image compression outcomes were
tested against an ideal base pattern by writing a bounding box algorithm
and a peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) algorithm. The algorithms'
results were compared for color integrity and image distortion.
FAMILY MEDICINE INTERNSHIP WITH JEFFERY
BURRIER M.D. & BURRIER FAMILY PRACTICE INC.
David Shahbodaghi
Department of Biology
EXPLICIT VAPOR PRESSURE PREDICTION FROM THE
PRSV EQUATION OF STATE
Amy Miller and Dr. Misovich, Hope College
Department of Engineering
Family practice is a specialty within primary care medicine. Family
practice physicians treat infants to the elderly and a broad range of
injuries and ailments from routine follow ups to traumatic injuries.
This internship encompassed 160 hours of time spent observing as
well as assisting Dr. Jeffrey Burrier in his small town practice.
Many facets of the job were observed outside of direct patient care
including paperwork, billing and working with pharmaceutical reps.
Patient observations and interactions varied from common illnesses
to a once in a lifetime case of primary pulmonary hypertension.
The PRSV equation is a cubic equation of state that can be used to
accurately estimate the vapor pressure of a substance by an iterative
algorithm. When vapor pressure and phase densities are expressed
as power series expansions about the critical point, they can be
written as explicit functions of temperature, a more convenient
computational strategy. Previous research successfully applied this
strategy to the Peng-Robinson (PR) equation but a major hurdle in
adapting this work for PRSV was the presence of an additional
parameter, κ1, in the equation. Hence, the PRSV series coefficients
contained two parameters instead of the single parameter present in
the PR series. An improved method for evaluating the partial
derivative expressions used in finding the series coefficients was
developed and programmed in Maple® 10 mathematical software.
This allowed the series coefficients to be evaluated principally in
terms of polynomials in the two parameters. Quantification of
truncation error from the series is ongoing.
CINCINNATI ZOO EDUCATION INTERNSHIP
Jessica Lade
Conservation Science Program
I had an education intership at the Cincinnati Zoo and
Botanical Garden during the summer. As an intern I led
summer camps and educational classes for ages three to adult
and was trained in interpretation. Duties also included
daily animal enrichment, workshops, and discussions. This
internship allowed for greater understanding of the zoo and
education based on environmental and conservation awareness.
GIRAFFE RUMINATION STUDY AT THE WILDS
Jessica Teaff and John Grennell
Conservation Science Program
We observed the behaviors of the Giraffe at the Wilds over
the summer of 2007. Our main focus was to determine the
health of the rumen by counting numbers of ruminations. From
this experience we were able to get a better understanding
of how to conduct a behavioral study.
PIPING PLOVER AND LEAST TERN REPRODUCTION
STUDY ON LONGISLAND NY
Ashley Campbell
Conservation Science Program
In conjunction with the Army Corps of Engineers a survey of piping
plover (Charadrius melodus) nest and fledge success was conducted
over a five month period. Pair bonds were tracked, territories
identified, and clutch size in proportion to hatchling and fledging
success were monitored. Least tern (Sterna antillarum) colony
estimates were also made throughout the shore bird nexting season.
Similarly, all migrating ocean and shore birds were tracked. The
surveys this year showed increasing predation of plover chicks by
ferrel cats and of tern chicks by gull species. The excessive
predation led to a fledge rate of 1-1.5 chicks per nest for plovers and
several hundered plus colony abandonments for terns.
IN THE ABSENCE OF GHRELIN RECEPTOR, HEART IS
MORE PRONE TO CARDIAC ISCHEMIA
Melissa Kollman and Anne Kwitek, Ph. D., Allison Beaty,
MCW SPUR Program
Department of Biology
Ghrelin is an endogenous peptide hormone that interacts with
GHSR, growth hormone secretagogue receptor, as a growth
hormone releaser. Ghrelin plays a substantial role in energy
homeostasis by stimulating appetite and weight gain. Studies
involving ghrelin have shown that it is also active in the
cardiovascular system, in particular protection from ischemic injury.
In human-based studies, GHSR has been associated with obesity,
left ventricular hypertrophy and myocardial infarctions.
Finding an appropriate animal model for this study would lead to
better understanding of the role ghrelin plays in cardiac function. To
gain a better perspective of the protective role of ghrelin in the rat
heart we studied an ENU rat knockout, FHH-Ghsrm1Mcwi, a nonsense
mutation that results in deletion of the last 29 amino acids. In this
experiment, we investigate the effect of a non-functional ghrelin
receptor after global ischemia followed by reperfusion. We
hypothesize there will be a significant difference in left ventricle
damage between the FHH-Ghsrm1Mcwi and its FHH control.
To characterize this experiment we performed Langendorff on the
hearts and a rat acylated ghrelin enzyme immunoassay. We also
measured plasma insulin, triglyceride, and cholesterol levels and
performed real-time PCR for the GHSR mRNA in liver and
pancreatic tissues. We concluded from the experiment that in the
absence of the ghrelin receptor, GHSR, the heart is more prone to
cardiac ischemia. Furthermore we found no differences in
circulating plasma ghrelin levels, indicating the mutation does not
effect circulating ghrelin and may play a tissue specific role in the
heart.
DATABASE DESIGN AND MANAGEMENT AT LMI
CUSTOM MIXING, LLC
Bryan Bates
Department of Mathematics and Computer Science
Throughout many industries in the world today, one will find the use
of databases as the heart of small and large business facilities,
especially in the field of manufacturing. LMI Custom Mixing, LLC
is one of these manufacturing facilities that utilizes and takes
advantage of having a database infrastructure that controls almost all
operating functions throughout the plant. The brain of the plant lies
within the utilization of a MS SQL Server that is comprised of
Mesabi databases (Mesabi Control Engineering is the company that
created the databases) to manage the operation of machines as well
as collect data back from those machines. The server is responsible
for directing and sending database commands to specific control
units. The basis of the internship was to make use of the data
received back from the control units around the plant to generate
custom reports by designing and managing databases that work with
the Mesabi databases. The internship also focused on designing
databases for data entry in the Maintenance department to handle
ordering and inventory and for the Quality Control department to
handle rejections and repairs.
GEOLOGY IN THE SUN
Ashley Burkett
Department of Geology
This experiment involves the study of 12 soft sediment cores and
associated airlift samples taken in varied environments in the U.S.
Virgin Islands of St. Croix. By studying the taphonomic
characteristics of airlift samples from different environments in the
St. Croix reef system one is able to determine a taphonomic
signature for each area. This project involves utilizing the
taphonomic signatures determined at the surface of each to compare
down the cores to determine whether these derived signatures are
effective or obsolete subsurface. Should this signature prove to be
effective subsurface a new tool for determining environment at the
time of deposition will have been identified.
SUMMER INTERNSHIP AT THE OHIO DEPARTMENT OF
NATURAL RESOURCES (ODNR): A FIRST-HAND VIEW
OF CORING, DRILLING, RECLAMATION EFFORTS, AND
GIS APPLICATIONS
Scott Madison and Anthony Carson
Department of Geology
This summer we interned at the Cambridge Field Office of the Ohio
Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), which is responsible for
the reclamation, supervising, and permitting of coal extraction.
During our time at the ODNR, we were involved in a number of
projects and worked closely with other geologists, drillers, and
inspectors of coal, oil and gas, and abandoned mines. Projects
included such things as: (1) coring and drilling related to mine
subsidence and depositional processes of modern stream systems,
(2) inputting coal data into spreadsheets for future GIS applications,
(3) scanning Regulatory and AML files for data pertinent to GIS
applications, (4) observing coal mining operations, and (5)
providing upkeep for reforestation programs. Throughout all of
these projects, we were able to do field work with other geologists
and hydrologists conducting research at reclamation sites. The most
rewarding aspect of this internship was the ability to first-hand
conduct field work at coal mines, witnessing blasting operations,
mining impacts, and reclamation efforts in the southeast portion of
the state.
SUMMER INTERNSHIP AT BIG OAKS NATIONAL
WILDLIFE REFUGE
Andrew Houze
Conservation Science Program
This summer I had an internship at the Big Oaks National Wildlife
Refuge in Madison, IN. This internship was a great learning
experience in a variety of different biological fields. I participated in
multiple research projects and got my wildland firefighter type two
training. This training allowed me to go out west for two weeks and
fight fires. Working for the Fish and Wildlife Service opened my
eyes to several job possibilities for me to shoot for after I graduate.
EFFECTS OF FLUPHENAZINE DECANOATE ON
CORTISOL LEVELS IN CENTRAL CHINESE GORAL
(NAEMORRHAEDUS GORAL)
Jessica B. Turner, Barbara A. Wolfe, DVM, PhD, DACZM,
Rachael B. Weiss, DVM, Michael D. Whitacre, DVM, DACT, and
Linda M. Penfold, PhD
Conservation Science Program
In management of ungulate species, long-acting neuroleptics
(LANs), such as fluphenazine decanoate, are widely used in
the zoo community. Fluphenazine decanoate can reduce stress
and aggression amongst these animals and lead to positive
husbandry situation when there is high interaction between
human and animal. Stress, measured by cortisol expression,
is strongly related to reproduction, for it can possibly aid
in reproductive success. However, LANs can affect the
neurotransmitter dopamine, which alters the release of
prolactin and gonadotropin. The broad aspects of this study
calculates the results of fluphenazine decanoate on
ovulation of the central Chinese goral (Naemorrhaedus
goral), but my focus was on the affects of fluphenazine on
cortisol expression. Through Enzyme Immuno Assays, the
amount of cortisol was compared between seven goral, four
subjected to fluphenazine decanoate and three given a saline
solution. Serum and fecal samples were analyzed. The
results show there was a difference between the two test
groups.
AUDUBON CENTER FOR RESEARCH OF ENDANGERED
SPECIES
Kylie Johnson
Conservation Science Program
A POPULATION ESTIMATION OF WHITE-TAILED DEER
(Odocoileus virginianus) AT THE WILDS
Greg Leasure
Conservation Science Program
Two components of the Audubon Nature Institute in New Orleans,
Louisiana include the Audubon Center for Research of Endangered
Species (ACRES) and the Freeport-McMoRan Audubon Species
Survival Center. Together, these divisions strive to protect wildlife
through care of endangered animals and innovative reproductive
techniques and breeding programs. As an intern in the crane facility,
the focus is primarily placed on chick-rearing for the highly
endangered Mississippi sandhill crane (MSC), of which only
approximately 100 remain in the wild. As a crane intern, duties
involve general husbandry for chicks and adult cranes, of which
there are approximately 30 MSC and 8 whooping crane adults on
site. In addition to husbandry, interns are given the unique
opportunity to assist in artificial insemination, egg collection, chick
socialization, as well as projects and other tasks. Another aspect of
this internship is working in the Species Survival Center with exotic
cats, Eland, Bongo, and Storks. Interns also have an opportunity to
rotate through the ACRES facility and watch veterinary procedures,
as well as embryo transfers, and nuclear transfers (cloning).
It has been suggested that there may be an overabundance of deer at
the Wilds, but there has been no substantial evidence to support this
claim. I conducted a census of the white-tailed deer population at
the wilds for the purpose of determining an accurate population
estimate and density estimate of white-tailed deer within the Wilds.
I conducted my census on six individual pre-determined transects
within the Wilds, International road, Admin, Dip, NS Hall, Doc
lane, and Scott road. Before starting each transect, I reset the
odometer on my vehicle. Upon approaching a deer or group of deer,
I recorded how far along the transect they were located, how many
of them there were, and how far they were from the transect using a
laser rangefinder. Determining accurate population estimates at the
Wilds may play an important role in the future in solving problems
such as over-browsing and disease that comes from an over
population of deer.
FINDING HEINRICH EVENTS AND STUDYING ANCIENT
CLIMATE CHANGE USING ICE-RAFTED DEBRIS (IRD).
Jason Tarbert
Department of Geology
This summer as part of my Muskie Fellow, I worked processing
deep ocean sediment samples taken from Integrated Ocean Drilling
Program Expedition 306 to the North Atlantic Ocean. Individual
core samples were washed and sieved to obtain IRD, or ice-rafted
debris. The amount of IRD extracted from the core samples helps to
determine when Heinrich Events, or periods of glaciation, took
place throughout Earth history. There have been seven distinct
Heinrich Events (H0 through H6) in the geologic past when there
has been heavy continental glaciation of Greenland and Canada. As
a result, large numbers of icebergs break off from the continents and
float off to sea carrying large amounts of continental sediments
(IRD) with them. The most important result of this research from
cores in the North Atlantic is the identification of four distinct
Heinrich Events (H1, H3, H4, and H5).
EFFECTS OF TASNIKS AND YxCxxxF MOTIFS FROM
VARIANT-CODE CILIATED PROTOZOAN OXYTRICHA
TRIFALLAX ON TRANSLATION TERMINATION IN
SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIAE
Mai Dang, Jessica Buckley, and Dr. David Bedwell
Summer Internship in Genetics Program, Department of
Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham
Department of Chemistry
The reassignment of stop codons is found to be common among
many ciliated protozoa. Previous studies have shown that the class 1
polypeptide release factor eRF1, which binds to stop codons during
translational termination, facilitates stop codon recognition in
eukaryotes. There are two highly conserved motifs on eRF1’s
domain 1, which are thought to directly associate with the stop
codon in all eukaryotic species, the TASNIKS and the YxCxxxF
motifs. In this study, we introduced the TASNIKS and YxCxxxF
motifs from Oxytricha trifallax, a variant-code ciliate, into the
baker’s yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The expressions of these
mutated eRF1’s were measured using Luciferase assay. While
TASNIKS and YxCxxxF might involve in the process of
recognizing stop codons, the results suggested that YxCxxxF
should play a higher role in stop codon specificity.